About Me

I was a reporter and columnist for 40 years for a chain of newspapers in the suburbs of Chicago. I'm a military veteran having served in the United States Army Combat Engineers (Cpl. E-4) and a Korean War veteran with an Honorable Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States of America

Sunday, February 28, 2010

One of the under reported jobs of our troops in Afghanistan is to protect the "poppy fields," or Opium fields, that are the main source of income for the citizens and government of Afghanistan.In this video, you will see U.S. troops on patrol through a "poppy field" not with "bushwhackers" but with M16s to insure nobody attempts to destroy the "poppy field." WATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/AZPql5bvasg&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

This video gives you an inside look at the unique capabilities of the AV-8B Harrier jet during combat operations in "Operation Moshtarak" against the Taliban in Afghanistan. TURN UP YOUR VOLUMEWATCH VIDEO HEREhttp://www.youtube.com/v/hVecCKNhmKQ&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

This video shows a patrol of U.S. troops going through the Helmand Valley in Afghanistan in search of the Taliban. Every inch of the way is fraught with danger.TURN UP YOUR VOLUMEWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/qDIujiBaTIU&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Video shows a platoon of U.S. troops in a battle with Taliban that leaves one Taliban soldier dead.Listen to the chatter between the troops as they prepare for the fight and during the fight.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/-5QP2guJLoY&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Video shows the 101st Airborne conducting an air assault on Taliban positions in Afghanistan.Plenty of action in this footage.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/JE5vohS0mGU&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Once the U.S. ground forces in Afghanistan have wiped out as many Taliban as possible, they call in the Apache choppers who finish the job by killing all the living Taliban in the mountains of Afghanistan.Listen to ground control give directions to Apache choppers on where to find Taliban targets.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/Y4eKuScpOmQ&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

This video is a compilation of our troops in combat action in Afghanistan and Iraq. Plenty of intense combat in this footage.TURN UP YOUR VOLUMEWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/QA0k5KJZ_-M&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

In this video you see and hear a U.S. Army Sgt. telling it like it is to a group of Iraqi Police.The Sgt. doesn't spare any language in making sure the Iraqi police know they are going to have to fight for their country or the U.S. Army isn't going to do dirt to protect them.TURN UP YOUR VOLUMEWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/C5LxaFAxIYU&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Video shows Charlie Company of the 1st Infantry Division in a violent firefight with the Taliban in the Pech River Valley of Kunar Province Afghanistan.TURN UP YOUR VOLUMEWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/V5u-DspBgo8&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

The song is "Surfin' Bird" and this video is a Vietnam redux only this time it is the endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/VBmhA6z6ieY&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

The war in Afghanistan is taking its toll on the civilian population of the country. In this video, you see the results of a U.S. bombing attack in Afghanistan that leaves Afghan civilians dead.WATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/NxDlS3jJ8x0&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif) revealed before a Congressional committee that during the Bush administration $12 BILLION in cash was sent to IRAQ and cannot be accounted for. It seems odd, if not hypocritical, the Republicans would be putting a stop to funding health care for 30 to 50 MILLION Americans without health insurance, but find nothing wrong with sending $12 BILLION dollars in cash to IRAQ.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/b_kskdHCOiI&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

This is the first video of the bomb and gun attack yesterday in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed 17 and wounded upwards of 50 Afghan civilians.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/kqL1y0g5REY&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

You will have to turn your sound way up to hear this video when you watch it.Video shows Lima Company, 4th Marines, in a fierce firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan.TURN YOUR SOUND WAY UPWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/Wzab2uj-NTg&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

This video was made by the Taliban and shows them attacking a U.S. base in Afghanistan.The action is intense and shows the power the Taliban have in their arsenal.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/pD0c5rAB53g&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Thursday, February 25, 2010

The mainstream media is not reporting it, but there have been many American troops wounded in the recent offensive in Afghanistan and military hospitals in Afghanistan are struggling to treat the wounded Americans.This video shows what is happening at military hospitals in Afghanistan.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/Ei8XfrIeMTw&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

In recent weeks there has been an uptick in the number of security incidents in Iraq.Here is a list of the latest:Reported security incidents Baghdad:http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com#1: One civilian was killed and three more were wounded in the explosion that occurred in central Baghdad on Tuesday, a police source said. “An explosive charge went off in front of a book shop in al-Mutanabi street, central Baghdad, killing a civilian and injuring three,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.#2: Iraqi Health Ministry denied on Wednesday that its institutions have received a number of unknown corpses over the past few hours. “Reports in this regard are absolutely untrue,” said a release issued by the Ministry and received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Yesterday, Iyad Allawi, head of the Al-Iraqiya electoral bloc, said in a press conference that 67 unknown dead bodies were found in Baghdad.#3: A senior judge was killed when a bomb went off near his house in the Doura district of southern Baghdad, police said.#4: Unknown gunmen shot and wounded a female member of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) in the Amil district of southwest Baghdad, a medical source saidAmarra:#1: Police forces defused on Wednesday an improvised explosive device in southern Amara, according to a senior police officer.Wassit Prv:#1: An Iraqi army forces foiled an attempt to detonate a bridge over the Tigris river in northern Wassit, a military source said. “A force from the 32nd brigade of the Iraqi army managed on Wednesday (Feb. 24) to foil an attempt to detonate al-Suwaiyra bridge, north of Kut, which links Kut with Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The force seized a barrel with 220 liters of TNT and other high explosives materials placed under the bridge,” he explained.Kirkuk:#1: Two persons have been wounded in an explosive charge blast in Kirkuk City, a local police source said on Tuesday. “At noon, an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near the foodstuffs department in al-Wassity neighborhood, southwestern Kirkuk,” Col. Ghazi Ali told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.The incident left two persons, including a policeman, wounded, the colonel pointed out.Mosul:#1: Unidentified gunmen killed three Christians from the same family in western Mosul on Tuesday, according to a security source. “Unknown armed men stormed the house of a Christian family in al-Seha neighborhood in western Mosul, killing the father and two of his sons, one of them is a priest,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The father is a very old man and the priest had been kidnapped two years ago,” he explained.#2: “Two policemen were gunned down by gunmen at a checkpoint in Tal a-Ruman region, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.#3: “A child was wounded in a hand grenade blast that targeted a police checkpoint in al-Jameaa al-Kabier region, central Mosul,” the same source said.#4: “A woman was killed on Tuesday evening by gunmen in Mosul al-Jadieda region in western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.#5: “A policeman was killed in a sticky bomb explosion in al-Mansour neighborhood in southern Mosul,” he added.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Marines shown in this video knew they are in for a tough fight with the Taliban and they were not wrong. Video shows an intense firefight between U.S. Marines and the Taliban in Helmand Province Afghanistan.TURN UP YOUR VOLUMEWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/iKyTFXN4KF0&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

It isn't often that a husband and wife are assigned to the same military unit, but in this video you get to meet a couple from North Carolina who are assigned to the same Apache helicopter squadron in Iraq.They both are pilots, but work different shifts. He is a Chief Warrant Officer and she is a 1st Lt and when they meet on the street he has to salute her because her rank is higher than his. They say many of their buddies on the base in Iraq laugh at how he has to salute her because they know they are married and she out ranks him. TURN UP YOUR SOUND AND WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/6DI-lUMmfW0&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Operating from a small Forward Operating Base in southern Afghanistan, this video shows U.S. troops unleashing a fierce battle for the city of Marjah, Afghanistan.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HEREhttp://www.youtube.com/v/HnledQxba0g&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The state of Vermont has been hit very hard with troop deployments to Afghanistan. This video shows what it was like when 1,500 young soldiers from Vermont prepared to leave for Afghanistan. Vermont has suffered very hard with 22 soldiers from the state killed in Afghanistan. Watch video to see soldiers saying good-bye to loved ones.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/JDwZ4oCzgxw&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

This video shows a huge night fight between U.S. forces at a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in the mountain of Afghanistan against the Taliban. TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/eLANM2W6LsA&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

U.S. Afghan toll hits 1,000, says website(Retuers)23 February 2010, 10:51 PMhttp://tiny.cc/JhatHThe number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan has reached 1,000, an independent website said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile deadly bombings continued in the south and east highlighting the struggle to stabilize the country.

The Pentagon disputed the figure, saying 916 had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan combined since late 2001 when the Taliban fell.

“It’s significantly less than 1,000 in Afghanistan,” said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman when asked to comment on the latest death toll provided by the website, which tracks casualties.Civilian and military casualties hit records last year as violence reached its worst levels since the Taliban were ousted, with foreign forces launching two big offensives in the past eight months to stem a growing insurgency.

The website said 54 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year, raising the total to 1,000 since the Taliban’s fall. This compares with eight this year in Iraq, where 4,378 have been killed since 2003.

Afghanistan is high on U.S. President Barack Obama’s foreign policy agenda and more American casualties or a military campaign that fails to bring stability to the country in an increasingly unpopular war could harm his presidency.

Also on Tuesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s office said he had signed into law changes that remove foreign observers from the electoral watchdog tasked with reviewing voting fraud.

That could put Karzai in conflict with Western donors who have said they will not fund Sept. 18 parliamentary elections without electoral reforms, following a 2009 presidential poll beset by massive fraud.

“The Afghan government for long has wanted to ‘Afghanize’ the electoral process and 10 days ago, the cabinet ratified the amendment and the president endorsed it,” Karzai spokesman Siamak Herawi said.Continue reading here: http://tiny.cc/JhatH

This video gives you a good idea of the conditions our troops find themselves in the mountains of Afghanistan where it is winter with lots of snow.This is a mortar platoon firing at the Taliban in the nearby snow-filled mountains.The music in this video is very explicit.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/BEPb4q5_0VM&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

The recent bombing by U.S. planes that hit three Afghan civilian busses killing 27 people is a growing concern for the U.S. and NATO as the major offensive in Marjah, Afghanistan enters its third week.In this video you will see Afghan people expressing their anger at the attacks by U.S. planes and NATO troops which are killing innocent Afghan citizens.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/rCjGmT0LWpM&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Video shows members of the famous 10th Mountain Division in a bloody battle with the Taliban in Afghanistan. If you like non-stop action combat action, this is the video for you.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/wmJI6wOvh-o&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Nothing like a little breather from the postings about the war in Afghanistan and the suicide attacks in Iraq.Here are two former Presidents, Bill Clinton and George Bush, working on making a video plug for Haiti relief.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/Dukl38qEXho&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

The top brass in the military have been brainwashed and Republicans are falling for it hook, line and sinker.You have to read this story from Vet Voicehttp://tiny.cc/41mceto realize how stupid some Republicans can be about the military because they were chickenhawks and never served a day of their lives in the military.Rick Santorium, former Republican member of Congress, thought you could "un-volunteer" from the military once you signed up.

With the Iraqi elections just around the corner in March, there are more and more signs the country is coming apart at the seams.The mainstream media in the United States has their head stuck in the sand over the obvious and increasing violence in Iraq.

Suicide bomber targets Iraqi policehttp://english.aljazeera.net/Iraq's national elections next month is being billed as a critical test of stability [AFP]

A suicide car bombing has killed at least three people and wounded four others, including two policemen, at an interior ministry detention centre, police have said.Security and hospital officials said a six-year-old boy, his father and a policeman were among those killed on Monday when the bomber drove a car loaded with explosives into the centre near Ramadi, the capital of western Anbar province.

Attacks in Ramadi, the Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad, have generally decreased since 2006, when local Sunni tribes sided with the US military.

But the latest violence comes as campaigning for next month's elections in Iraq becomes mired in a row over a ban on scores of candidates.

This is the first video coming out of Afghanistan on the U.S. air strike on three civilian busses which killed 27 Afghan civilians including women and one child.Don't be fooled by the way this video is framed as an attack on civilians by NATO or coalition forces. These were U.S. planes that attacked the three civilian busses.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HEREhttp://www.youtube.com/v/38kXJuzfExo&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

KABUL, Afghanistan - A NATO airstrike killed at least 27 civilians in central Afghanistan, the third time a mistaken coalition strike has killed noncombatants since the start of a major offensive aimed at winning over the population.The top NATO commander, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, apologized to the Afghan president, NATO said.

The Afghanistan Council of Ministers strongly condemned the airstrike in Uruzgan province, calling it "unjustifiable." An earlier statement issued Monday put the death toll at 33. It was not immediately clear why the figure had been revised. Initial reports indicated that NATO planes fired at a convoy of three vehicles Sunday. The victims included 4 women and a child, Afghan officials said.
NATO confirmed that its planes fired on what it believed was a group of insurgents on their way to attack a joint NATO-Afghan patrol.

The Taliban are outgunned, but this is not stopping them from giving the United States military and what is left of the NATO coalition forces one helluva fight for Marjah, Afghanistan.If the battle for Marjah is any indication how the Afghanistan war is going to go, you can expect U.S. forces to be in Afghanistan for at least two more years and quite possibly much, much longer.General David Petraeus, Commander of Central Command, says it is going to be "tough" and he warns of many casualties on both sides and says the U.S. military will be in Afghanistan for at least another 18 months.You can read more here:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123942365&ft=1&f=1001

Afghanistan children have taken to smuggling flour out of Pakistan and back home to feed their families because there is no other means to keep their families alive as the war rages on all around them.In this video you see Afghan children carrying sacks of flour on their back as they navigate through the treacherous mountains from Pakistan to Afghanistan.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/fHxSapWp7Qk&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Video shows a squad of soldiers from a U.S. Artillery unit firing their big gun into Taliban positions around Marjah, Afghanistan. TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/CI_tRPyaw4o&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Last Saturday evening, as the first day of fighting in Marja between the Taliban and the Marines of Kilo Company, Third Battalion, Sixth Marines was ceasing with the approach of darkness, two Marine platoons converged for the night on a small Afghan compound. The platoons took cover behind the mud walls. The company manned its guns for the night and began to plan its missions for the next day.

The compound had several small buildings, some no bigger than sheds. Gunnery Sgt. James McCarver examined each structure, looking for a place to set up the company’s radios. He settled on a one-room mud building about 10 feet wide by 25 feet long, and led the company command group and its radio operators inside.

And there, on an inside wall illuminated by their flashlights, they looked up at a sight out of place: a small poster of battle scenes from Iraq, watched over by the approving face of Saddam Hussein.

The image, a cut-and-paste job, included two American soldiers aiming their rifles from the prone position. Each was bleeding heavily from bullet wounds that had been crudely painted on.Who had the previous occupants of this room been? Where had they come from? And what about their affinity for the former president of Iraq, and for thoughts of blood-soaked American soldiers, was so strong that the poster was one of the only decorations in the room?Read more here: http://tiny.cc/7IqZC

Video shows a platoon of U.S. Marines coming under heavy fire from the Taliban near Marjah, Afghanistan after one of the vehicles in their convoy is destroyed by a roadside bomb.TURN UP YOUR VOLUMEWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/PU9NFGmD3JY&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

This is the most comprehensive report you will see on casualties in the Afghanistan war.You can click on stories listed on the left and receive more details on each GI killed or wounded recently in Afghanistan.http://icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx

BAGHDAD - Iraq's main Sunni party said Saturday it is dropping out of next month's national elections, seizing on U.S. concerns about Iran's influence in the political process as proof that the vote will not be legitimate.

A statement from the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue stopped short of urging Sunni voters to boycott the March 7 parliamentary election. But the party called on other political groups to join it in withdrawing from the ballot.Saturday's announcement raises the likelihood that the results of the vote will be called into question. U.S. and United Nations diplomats have expressed fears that a Sunni boycott that hands victory to Shiites would throw the results of the election into doubt. In turn, that could open the door to a new round of violence and delay plans for American troops to leave Iraq.

"The Iraqi Front for National Dialogue cannot continue in a political process run by a foreign agenda," party spokesman Haidar al-Mullah said in a statement, referring to Iran's alleged interference.

He said the party decided to pull out of the vote after U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill and Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top American military commander in Iraq, each described the Shiite leaders of a candidate-vetting panel as having ties to Iran.

February 20, 2010 - 12:52:28http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=127345DIALA / Aswat al-Iraq: Iranian troops crossed into Iraqi territories and advanced for several meters after removing concrete barricades on the borders with Diala on Saturday, according to the assistant governor of the province.“The Iranian forces entered Iraqi territories from al-Munzheriya district, the area bordering Iran and belonging to Khanaqin district, (155 km) east of Baaquba city,” Hafez Abdulaziz told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

However, an official security source in the Diala Operations Command (DOC) denied the reports.“Security conditions n the borders are stable and there are no encroachments by the Iranian side on the Iraqi borders,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq.Baaquba, the capital city of Diala province, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad.An Iranian force had occupied the Fakka oilfield in Missan on December 18, 2009 and planted the Iranian flag there, triggering tension between the two neighboring countries

There are troubling signs in Afghanistan that some of the NATO countries are pulling their troops out of the country. The Dutch and Canada are making plans to leave Afghanistan. Dutch government collapses in dispute over Afghan mission; war contribution in doubt

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Dutch coalition government collapsed Saturday over whether to extend the country's military mission in Afghanistan, leaving the future of its 1,600 soldiers fighting there uncertain. An early election is now expected.Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende announced that the second largest party in his three-party alliance is quitting, ending an uneasy partnership."Where there is no trust, it is difficult to work together. There is no road along which this cabinet can go further," Balkenende said.The Dutch debate comes as opinion polls in many troop-providing European countries indicate growing public opposition to sending more soldiers to Afghanistan amid a global financial crisis and shrinking defense budgets.Any Dutch withdrawal would be a worrying sign for NATO, which has struggled to raise the 10,000 additional troops that its top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has demanded to accompany the 30,000 American reinforcements being deployed there.In another sign of the weakening commitment to the war, Canada is planning to withdraw its entire 2,800-strong unit from Afghanistan by the end of 2011. The Canadian contingent, the third-largest after the U.S. and Britain, serves with the Dutch in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.Balkenende made no mention of elections as he spoke to reporters after a marathon 16-hour Cabinet meeting that ended close to dawn.

This video follows a company of French soldiers as they prepare and go into battle against the Taliban in Alasay Valley, Afghanistan. Watch as one French soldier sees his wife and baby girl on a video before the battle. This is a moving video and should put to rest the snide comments by Fox News commentators who are constantly mocking the French soldiers as too frightened to fight. If there is anyone who is too frightened to fight it is the chicken-hawks at Fox News who ALL managed to avoid military service.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/j07VMqM40vY&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

The New York Times reports the Taliban have been using U.S. ammunition and arms in the recent battles held in the Korengal Valley and also in Marjah, Afghanistan.An investigation has been launched in an attempt to find out how the Taliban was able to obtain such a large cache of U.S. ammo and weapons.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/O-nrAtyWNhE&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

The United States Marine Corps have a long and storied history of being the "first to fight" in the many wars the United States has been involved in and Afghanistan is no different. The Marines are leading the new offensive on the city of Marjah, Afghanistan. TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/Rm6TnzexP5U&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

The story about the capture of Taliban's #2 took another questionable twist. Pakistan, who captured the so-called number two of the Taliban, is now saying they will not turn him over to the United States. Reuters had reported the other day that the Taliban says their number two leader had NOT been captured and it is all propaganda.This whole story stinks like a rotten fish.Read more here:http://tiny.cc/zgLQi

When this U.S. soldier got out of his vehicle to take a piss he was shot in the ass. Watch as fellow soldiers attend to him in Afghanistan.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HEREhttp://www.youtube.com/v/jOi9igEUZDk&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Video shows combat medics feverishly working on wounded American troops on the battlefield in Afghanistan.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/HzFCVJ8uC3s&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Our troops in Afghanistan need more support than ever before as they are into the second week of a major offensive on the Taliban in Marjah, Afghanistan.This video with appropriate music is a compilation of pictures taken on the battlefield.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/qAlm7e_d4es&hl=en_US&fs=1CLICK ON LINK ABOVE AND THEN DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO